Smartphones and other mobile devices are being used in new ways to streamline interactions between consumers and merchants. Methods of providing advertisements, coupons, payment transactions, and other interactions are changing quickly as mobile device technology improves.
Location data from a mobile device can be used for numerous applications. Many applications use the location data for locating friends, playing games, and assisting a user with directions, for example. The location data can also be used to alert a user when the user and the user's device are in the vicinity of a point of interest, such as a business, an institution, or a location that would be of interest to a user. For example, a user may choose to be alerted every time the user is near a particular store or restaurant, especially if the alert includes a promotional offer for the store or restaurant of interest.
Points of interest are constantly changing. New stores are built, promotions are updated, and the user location changes. Nevertheless, a user may desire constantly updated and accurate point-of-interest information as the user changes location. Unfortunately, providing such updated information to the user requires constant monitoring of the location of the user device. For example, the location based application may need to determine the location of the user and perhaps the movement of the user device continually or every few minutes. This action in turn can adversely affect the device, for example, by draining the battery charge of the device, reducing the data storage capacity of the device, and reducing the required data transmission capacity of the device. And while decreasing the frequency at which the location of the user device is monitored may reduce the adverse affect on battery life, for example, doing so also reduces the accuracy of the point-of-interest information that is presented to the user.